A good book you might want to put off...

Ian Welsh with a very good idea, a purveyor of Celtic punk worth checking out, and designers of boats might find this interesting...

So, I've finished "As Long as it's Fun" and it was certainly a good read that threw part of the whole Lin & Larry saga into focus.

That said, I don't recommend you read it until after you have had a chance to read their voyaging books about Seraffyn. Trust me, it will be a worthwhile experience and you'll be glad you did...

Listening to Pink Turtle

So it goes...

so, what's the price of a sunset?

Business as usual in the great rip offs of American medicine debacle, this is really not good, and what's up with our favorite Druid...

The other day we had a Gunboat 66 anchored on top in front of us and it made me feel kind of smug. What's not to like with sitting at anchor sharing the same sunset and view with a guy who spent over $4,000,000.00 to do pretty much what I was doing (ie, bugger all at anchor) on a boat that cost 1000 times less.

Then again, if you read the yachting press, the current trend in cruising is hyperluxe multihulls and, apparently, everyone is going to be sailing and cruising such beasts that dwarf the Gunboat 66 in the near future.

At the moment I love it, if for no other reason, than I can do the same thing as the uber-rich folks for a whole lot less. Albeit in a smaller envelope. Of course, the downside of "at the moment" is that super rich people, as a rule, do not play well with others outside their class and income bracket. So, it's only a matter of time till they no longer care to share an anchorage with the likes of people like myself or anyone of the non-mega persuasion sullying their view and do something about it.

To quote the philosopher Nesmith...

"I said I roll with the flow
Wherever it goes and it's rolling out of here"

Which, as it happens, is what I'm listening to at the moment.

So it goes...

a sign of the times...

A glimpse from Reality Land, scary, and it's always good to read something from Webb Chiles...

Have you noticed just how thin and insubstantial most boating magazines have become these days? If they keep going at this rate they'll all just disappear.

So much for the health of a large chunk of the industry...

Which, when you think about it, is no bad thing because we could use a break from the same old same and, just maybe, what takes its place will be an improvement. Then again, it would have to really jump through some hoops to be worse.

Listening to Los Lobos

So it goes...

something on my to do list...

Pete Seeger is no longer with us, the coin drops, and something greedy, selfish bastards should take note of...

Of late, I've been putting a lot of thought into a bit of gear to improve the balanced lug rigs handling and make it easier to reef/furl... Not exactly rocket science but something of a difficult task to keep it simple and affordable.

As it happens, I came across this picture the other day of Chuck Merrell's Jessie Cooper "Tomboy" scooting right along...

Listening to the Alabama Shakes

So it goes...

a quick love/hate scenario...

Just another instance of big Pharma companies not being your friend, worth reading, and this just might ruin your day...

Let's talk about love/hate scenarios.

I happen to love my Whale foot pump because it is the most simple, trouble free, affordable galley pump available... Love is not too strong of a word.

What I hate about this pump is that since the diaphragm needs replacing every nine-months or so you need to buy a service/repair kit that costs nearly as much or MORE than the actual pump and this is just frelling NUTS.

Just thought I'd get that off my chest...

Listening to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

So it goes...

A little this and that...

This pretty much burned out my irony meter, some depressing news, and how outboard theft is not just a third world experience...

I'm currently reading "As Long as it's Fun" the Pardey biography and, so far, it's much better than I expected. So good in fact that I'm rationing it to make it last. I expect I'll be writing more about it after I'm finished...

It has, however, got me thinking a lot about how cruising has changed but more importantly how people have changed and the mood those thoughts engender are not exactly happy ones.

Over at Let's Pimp the Adventure 40 Attainable Adventure Cruising there's an interesting defense quoted for the cruising rally thang...

"...there is a huge demand for rallies. People are going to go to sea that way, whatever happens. So the best thing to do is make sure that rallies happen in the best and most seamanlike way possible..."

I'm pretty sure that Walter White used a very similar line of reasoning for his business as well and I believe he got it from the tobacco industry... So it does go.

Meanwhile, I was catching up on one of my favorite websites, ProaFile, and found this eye candy Pacific Proa by Julien Marin




Listening to Michael Nesmith

So it goes...

Clap if you believe in fairies...

I expect this is going to upset some folks, this is really neat, and Sarah gets a visit...

I recently was reading a report on the current state of the marine industry and it went something like this...



Truth be told, I'm closer to believing in Tinker Belle than I am in the very massaged industry pronouncement of health.

Listening to the Mothers

So it goes...

and in that corner of the anchorage you'll find the freaks and geeks...

Something is very wrong over at Animal Planet, this is interesting/scary, and some well deserved comeuppance...

Remember high school?

All those cliques vying for status and popularity?

I mention this because if there is a downside to the sailing and cruising life it's that, for a lot of people, it is just like high school...

I remember being at a get-together on a beach and realized the reason no one was leaving was because everyone knew as soon as they left they'd become the subject of the conversation and it would get ugly.

Kinda takes you back...

Listening to Steely Dan

So it goes...

On how Ratty had it nailed...

Just a quick statement of fact, being #1 is not always a good thing, and more than a little method to their madness...

I like working on my boat... Which, considering how much work it needs is no bad thing.

Yesterday I spent some time re-bedding and sorting out a couple of issues with the deck/stanchion bases which, while hardly rocket science, kept me from being bored. It was a nice day, my iPod was fully charged so I had tunes, and I could keep an eye out for turtles and the odd jumping ray, so it was pretty enjoyable. 

Which is what boat work really should be...

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
                                                                                ― Kenneth Grahame 

Listening to Renaud

So it goes...

A quick thought...

No downside in sight, something for the DeadHeads, and how about a class to help you downsize your life...

Speaking of classes, where sailing and cruising is concerned, I've always found workshops/seminars/etc sorta/kinda suck. Of course, that's just my opinion...

The funny thing is, there are so many truly interesting and knowledgeable people in the cruising and sailing world you'd think there would be any number of great educational opportunities around. I suspect this involves the old "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach" thing.

That brings us to a newish YouTube channel that is well worth watching entitled WhiteSpotPirates. Start at the beginning but I should warn it is somewhat addictive...



Listening to Great Big Sea

So it goes...